Another tower disaster - Skyview Castle Hill

Discussion in 'What to buy' started by Gockie, 17th Jun, 2021.

Join Australia's most dynamic and respected property investment community
Tags:
  1. Gen-Y

    Gen-Y Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    8th Nov, 2015
    Posts:
    3,770
    Location:
    Brisbane - Sydney
    No comment - this is a big fat joke with defects. Short cuts and what not.
    Do you know the education of site personnel have dropped to the lowest level ever.
    Lots of people can't even do simple maths properly. You heard it from insider first.

    In 2000, 2012, 2024 maybe.
    All these apartment boom period - we see this over and over again.
    OMG - I feel I have been in the game for too long.
     
    gman65 likes this.
  2. SuperOlaf

    SuperOlaf Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    23rd Jul, 2019
    Posts:
    253
    Location:
    Melbourne
    Another article today on defects in a brand new apartment in Melbourne. Thankfully for the owners it does not seem to be structural (water leaking through the balcony and going under the carpet), but shows the quality of the work is not up to the standard you would expect.

    'Your nose is black inside!': Warning of new apartment defect horror
     
  3. spoon

    spoon Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    17th Nov, 2016
    Posts:
    1,762
    Location:
    Time-dependent
  4. norwoodman

    norwoodman Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    20th Jun, 2015
    Posts:
    383
    Location:
    Adelaide SA
    There's a whole bunch of proposed changes related to requirements for waterproofing and cladding proposed for the next revision of the National Construction Code so hopefully these issues become less common going forward.
     
  5. Cindie

    Cindie Member

    Joined:
    15th May, 2021
    Posts:
    12
    Location:
    NSW
    I wonder if the new Design and Building Practitioners Act 2020 (NSW) would apply to the purchasers to allow them claim a damage in the drop of value due to the buildings reputation damages caused by ****** developer. And if the bank refuses to lend against this security, then whether the economic losses (such as the 10% deposit loss from not able to complete the contract ) can be recovered from the builder under the new statutory duty of care. I feel that these changes has brought lawyers a lot of billable hours :p
     
  6. bamp

    bamp Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    11th Feb, 2016
    Posts:
    329
    Location:
    Home
    Maybe not structural, but It sounds pretty serious and complex, otherwise the builders would've fixed it by now instead of it dragging out for so long, and seems multiple other owners have the same problem.
    What's scary is the woman in the article's dad is a builder, and mum works in real estate, if they didn't spot any thing off when they inspected what chance do the rest of us have.
     
  7. CTSB

    CTSB Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    28th Sep, 2017
    Posts:
    111
    Location:
    Melbourne
    Yeah, I think there's some journalistic mayonnaise on that one. Possibly the structural engineers PR department.

    You can get away with some things within tier 1 D&C commercial construction contracts. Adhocing your own structural designs aren't one of them.

    Some in this thread have absolutely no conception of the level of detail that goes into some of these buildings.
     
    bmc likes this.
  8. Mark F

    Mark F Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    29th Jan, 2020
    Posts:
    1,029
    Location:
    Canberra
    bmc likes this.
  9. bmc

    bmc Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    18th Oct, 2015
    Posts:
    1,116
    Location:
    Sydney
    typical due process for final compliance prior to issue of the Final OC and issue of subdivision certificate.

    good to see some enforcement in action
     
  10. Gen-Y

    Gen-Y Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    8th Nov, 2015
    Posts:
    3,770
    Location:
    Brisbane - Sydney
    Slick sales tactic and nice brochure. Reel them purchaser in.
    Feels bad for owners. But you know this was going to get worst until it is address.

    "Dodgie brothers" was the terms I used to say when the builders aren't up to scratch.
     
  11. Cindie

    Cindie Member

    Joined:
    15th May, 2021
    Posts:
    12
    Location:
    NSW
    the Department can accept an undertaking from a developer under the RAB Act to provide a rectification bond for the costs of eliminating, minimising or remediating a serious defect or potential serious defect in a residential apartment building – and the Department can prohibit the issue of an occupation certificate if a developer fails to provide the rectification bond

    Wow.... So all these prohibition orders can be lifted when the developer provides an undertaking.... There is no consequences after that. This is useless
     
  12. Simon Hampel

    Simon Hampel Founder Staff Member

    Joined:
    3rd Jun, 2015
    Posts:
    12,394
    Location:
    Sydney
    The Sydney apartment tower with a 'drop to certain death'

    Sydney is no stranger to apartment defects, but the deadly drop found in this one could set a new benchmark for danger.

    The defects in Piety Group's One The Waterfront complex in the Western Sydney suburb of Wentworth Point have been detailed in a series of building management reports leaked to the ABC.

    Among the problems with the recently completed development are a malfunctioning sewer pump and a gaping hole in the fire stairs that could be fatal if someone fell through.

    ...​

    It could be a case of confirmation bias - now that we are aware of these issues, we're seeing them everywhere while they really are just normal and not as dramatic as the media makes them out to be ... but still - it doesn't exactly fill one with confidence.
     
    MTR and skater like this.
  13. Cindie

    Cindie Member

    Joined:
    15th May, 2021
    Posts:
    12
    Location:
    NSW
    I just can't believe the industry went unsupervised for so long.... This is gross negligence...
     
  14. Lacrim

    Lacrim Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    25th Jul, 2015
    Posts:
    6,175
    Location:
    Australia
    Developer promises $11m for potential defects in Castle Hill towers

    The more people are reminded about defects in high rises, the better for attached and detached houses I reckon. I still hold my apartments (before switching to solely houses) but they're all in 2-3 storey low rises with < 20 apartments.

    I don't hear boo from the 70s blocks as they're built like a tank but the newer 20-25 year old builds are still a pain from time to time. Shudder to think what owning in a high rise is like:eek:.
     
    craigc likes this.
  15. Lacrim

    Lacrim Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    25th Jul, 2015
    Posts:
    6,175
    Location:
    Australia
    Photo of that waterlogged basement....very common with basement parking.

    Look, its quite simple, if you want to buy an apartment, fine - buy something built before 1980 with < 20 apartments in block, no basement and ideally, in a street dominated by houses. Like, its not rocket science, yet I have people still asking me, "should I buy in this such and such new development etc etc". Not to mention, the older apartments occupy superior positions in every suburb.
     
  16. Trainee

    Trainee Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    24th May, 2017
    Posts:
    10,260
    Location:
    Australia
    The fixtures are pretty tho.......
     
    Car tart likes this.
  17. sanj

    sanj Well-Known Member Premium Member

    Joined:
    18th Jun, 2015
    Posts:
    3,461
    Location:
    Perth
    I gotta say it really seems like the wild west with Sydney and melb high rise developments. Seems to be a lot more speculative/exploitative and full of potential banana peels for buyers.

    It makes me appreciate a little the less gung ho apartment market we have here, it is extremely rare here for something to be built without large amount of presalws and the less mature market perhaps works in our favour here in terms of it being pretty hard for an unknown builder or developer to propose a really large project and get enough off the plan sales to get going.

    Between the fly by night dodgy developers and the transactional foreign money uninterested in reputation or brand building and only in quick profits (with the ability to disappear should things go sour) its a much more dicey game seprating them from the proper operators delivering good product and who are worthy of you entrusting your 10% deposit with
     
    Last edited by a moderator: 26th Jul, 2021